The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.

Today, we begin a short series profiling women in the Bible (Who are not named Ruth or Esther). Both the stories of Ruth and Esther are beautiful, gracious, and profound. We love reading and rereading them. However, in an attempt to bring attention to more stories of more women throughout the Scriptures, we choose now to shift our focus. Our first woman, is, the first woman herself: Eve.

This is the first direct promise of the Seed who will reunite all mankind to God by defeating Satan on the Cross.

Yes, Adam and Eve both participated in sin. This was a joint effort of the two genders of mankind. They are both sinners. But the first sin wasn't letting the serpent in the garden.

Our use–or disuse–of language reveals a deeper need than a bubbly carbonated soda. It highlights a gift given and a gift fallen, and it leaves us thirsting for a gift restored.

The promise is trustworthy because God has proven Himself to be trustworthy.

He finds the woman and the man in the Garden and fought back for the identity of His people.

In those waters we are nailed to his cross and washed out the door of his tomb. Within his wounds we safely hide.

Still, sadly, many polls suggest that above 50% of Americans get their news from social media sites as opposed to actual news sites.

The Garden of Eden proved to be the first battlefield between God and his submissive people.

They were incapable of covering their shame. They knew what they'd done was evil, but since they were only "like" God, there was no way for them to go back and replace evil with good.

The flower of youth, as lovely as it is, cannot withstand the hot winds of time. There is a beauty, however, that remains.